FROOME WINS GIRO D´ITALIA TO COMPLETE TRIPLE CROWN

The 115-kilometre flat route around the Italian capital produced no surprises to derail the 33-year-old's march into the sport's history books.

As expected, Froome became the first British man to win the Giro, the seventh rider to taste glory in cycling's three Grand Tour events, and is just the third man to win the prestigious trio in successive attempts.

Sunday's ceremonial route became even more of a formality when it was decided the general classification would be neutralised after three laps of the course were covered, with riders voicing concerns regarding some cobbled sections of the road.

Bora-Hansgrohe's Sam Bennett sprinted to the stage win but overall glory belonged to Froome, who effectively secured the title over the prior two days.

After a slow start to the race, the Kenyan-born Team Sky rider sensationally claimed the Maglia Rosa on Friday, embarking on a solo break from 80 kilometres out as long-time leader Simon Yates crumbled.

That left Froome with a 40-second lead over Team Sunweb's Tom Dumoulin heading into Saturday's action and, although the two traded attacks towards the end of a 214km route from Susa to Cervinia, the defending champion was unable to make any inroads as Froome extended his advantage by six seconds.